a. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a flexible noise insulating material comprising a molded composition of iron oxide silicate powder and binder resin and more particularly to a noise insulating material excelling in flame retardation and fire proofness.
b. Brief Description of the Prior Art
There are known a variety of flexible noise insulating materials each comprising a molded mixture of inorganic particles having a high specific gravity and a resin binder (Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-21052 and No. 58-25375, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 57-34064 and No. 61-57632). Such noise insulating materials are processed into sheets for installation on the floors and walls of automobiles, rolling stock, buildings, and so on. Noise insulating materials are also used widely in composite materials as laminates with steel sheets, nonwoven fabrics, concrete panels, wooden boards and so on.
Since the sound insulating effect of a noise insulating material is subject to the mass law of sound insulation as given below, it is necessary that its surface density be increased by incorporating a filler having a large specific gravity in a binder resin with good workability in a high proportion. EQU TL=a log mf+b
wherein TL is a transmission loss (dB), m is a surface density (kg/m.sup.2), f is a frequency (Hz) and a and b each is a constant. The term "surface density" means the weight (kg) per unit thickness and unit area, and generally the weight of a sheet per 1 mm thickness and 1 m.sup.2 area is called the surface density of the sheet.
Then, in order that a noise insulating material may be successfully used as a building material, it must be possessed not only of high noise insulating performance but also of flame retardant property, i.e. resistance to combustion in the event of a fire, and fire proofness, i.e. resistance to propagation of a flame.
However, the hithereto-known noise insulating materials are unsatisfactory in flame retardant property and fire proofness if they are satisfactory in high sound insulation performance. Thus, on exposure to a flame, the binder resin melts off to cause cracks so that the propagation of the flame cannot be prevented. Particularly when the surface density of the noise insulating material is increased by incorporating a sound barrier filler of high specific gravity in large quantities, the binder resin melted by the flame fails to support the filler and melts away, thus permitting a propagation of the flame.